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News about a rape case in a kindergarten school last February has shocked many Indonesian parents. But not long after the case was revealed, Jakarta International School (JIS) found itself in hot water again following the news of a suicide of one James Vahey, a former JIS teacher and a wanted pedophile by the FBI and Interpol.

According to the FBI file, Vahey has raped at least 90 teenage boys throughout his teaching career.

Last March, Tjandra Adi Gunawan, a dentist and business consultant from East Java was apprehended for collecting and distributing online child porn material. The National Police confiscated [id] more than 10,000 child porn pictures from Gunawan's possession. Gunawan posed as a female OB/GYN and lured his victims to interact with his bogus Facebook profile.

Reacting to the surge in child molestation cases, the Indonesian Police Chief stated [id] that pedophiles should receive harsher penalties or even capital punishment.

Citing data gathered by Interpol and the FBI, the Indonesian Police said [id] that Indonesia is experiencing an alarming number of molestation against minors. The number has allegedly surpassed that of Thailand and is one of the highest in the Southeast Asian region.

Thailand&Cambodia uphold a law with life/capital punishment to pedophiles. They saw how weak the same law in Indonesia, and here they went.

In Indonesia, the maximum punishment for a child sex offender is 15 years [id]. However, nobody has received the maximum punishment in pedophilia-related cases.

@pasukanjarik(Jarik Army), a group of concerned parents, made an online petition on Change.org, calling the government to revise the law on child molestation and hand out harsher punishment to child sex offenders. In Javanese culture, Jarik is a Batik cloth used by parents to carry their newborns and toddlers.

In the end, communication between children and parents becomes crucial. Getting used to have a laid back conversation with our kids on any topic, things that seem to be ordinary for us, might be very important to our kids.